Connecting to the Gospel

But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

Acts 20:24 (CSB)

Last week in Bible Study, our group looked closely at this statement from Paul of how he saw the “why” of his life. Here, Paul clearly states that his overall motivation was to testify to the gospel. It seems like a very broad statement, and yet the broadness makes this motivation all the more powerful. No matter what situation Paul encountered, no matter how comfortable or painful, his way forward was always clear: share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Whether or not we identify it, each one of us lives life with a core motivation. Perhaps that motivation for you is avoiding pain, or feeling loved, or achieving control over your circumstances. For many years, my primary motivation was to never be seen making mistakes or not knowing an answer. On the outside, my life looked great. But on the inside, I was always afraid of being found out and known as a fraud.

From Motivation to Mission

Thankfully, when we claim Jesus as Savior and Lord, we are redeemed completely, including our motivations. The inward focus of our old thinking keeps us isolated and disconnected. In our new life, however, we find a “why” that looks outward, encouraging us to bring ourselves and our stories out into the world. I’ve known for many years that God designed me as a connector. I am made to connect people to the things they need, whether that is relationships, information, or resources. The more I walk in the newness of my redeemed identity, the more I get to do that in the service of the gospel.

Here at Outpost, I have the privilege of connecting people to hope and healing for their relational and sexual brokenness. Even though my job title has changed multiple times since coming on staff, I’ve consistently been able to participate in making these connections. I love to see and hear people’s reactions when a connection is made and they take the first step to encountering God in this area of their lives.

Connecting to Teaching

The first way I make connections is through our seminars and speaking engagements. When someone calls looking for teaching and training for their church or ministry, they talk to me. I get to help them figure out what their group needs, and how we can best meet that need.

Sometimes, I direct people to one of our already created seminars. Our Distinctions seminar is a great overview to help people understand and respond to issues around LGBTQ+ identities and questions. Our Foundations class, taught every month in-house, gives an introduction to how we understand our created being and what the healing journey entails. I love to help groups tailor the content for their particular audience, whether young adults, leadership teams, or multi-generational congregations.

In some cases, the best option is for two or three of our staff members and volunteer leaders to visit and share testimonies of transformation through Jesus. After sharing, we hold an extended Q&A time with the group we’re visiting. Our stories of God’s work are powerful. The stories encourage and teach and remind the listeners that no one needs to walk the path of life alone.

Connecting to Resources

The second way I make connections is by keeping our recommended resources list updated. While we primarily use the list when we visit churches or attend conferences, the list is also available on our website. At the top of our “Resources” page, you will find a link to a pdf file of book titles and video resources. The list is organized by topic and includes titles and videos for all age groups, including young readers and their parents. We love to help people find more ways to learn and be encouraged by the authors and video hosts.

Connecting to Hope

The third way God is using me to make connections is through planning our special events. Whether planning a fundraiser or a worship service, my goal is always to bring people together to encounter the love and truth of the living God. It is through these types of encounters that hearts are softened and lives are changed.

What a joy it is to have traded my old motivation for a new mission. Whatever my job tasks, and wherever God leads me to serve, my mission remains: to connect people to what they need most. That is, to connect people to the living God, that they, too, may experience hope and healing in Jesus’s name. Won’t you join me in sharing the good news with others? I pray you find (or are reminded of) your new motivation today. And may you be empowered by God to walk out your mission in love and truth.

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For more information on seminars or other training, call the office and ask for Wendy. Also, be sure to join us for our next special event, Called Out of Darkness, at 7:00 pm on June 22 at Cornerstone Church Crystal. More information on all these items is also on the website, www.outpostministries.org.

From Fear to Courage

The Joshua Fellowship Journey

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9 (ESV)

Dear Friends,

Joshua Fellowship (JF) is Outpost’s support group for young men struggling with same sex attraction, sex addiction, and other forms of sexual and relational brokenness.  It is named from the words of the Lord to Joshua in Joshua 1:9. These are words that all the young men in our program desperately need to hear and believe if they are going to make it through the battles ahead of them in life. They are not taking hold of a literal promised land, but rather promises that God has made to each of them. The story of Joshua can inspire them to go after those promises. JF’s summer masculinity course, which takes place every June through August, focuses especially on these themes and provides opportunities to experience victory in the face of challenge in very practical and physical ways.

Fear and Doubt

When I joined JF over 10 years ago, I was struggling in many seemingly independent areas of my life: career and finances, familial relationships, spiritual disciplines, physical fitness, and of course my sexuality. I joined JF in the fall, but it was during the summer masculinity course that I made the greatest strides in my healing journey. Over the course of the summer, I was stretched and challenged to achieve things that I’d previously been unwilling to even attempt. Over time I realized I had allowed failures in my past to teach me a very powerful lie: “I can’t.” As I chose to trust God and my leaders with my self-doubt and fear, I found myself able to take measured risks in the supportive and encouraging environment of the group. By the end of the summer, I was able to boldly declare “I can!” as I took on one of the most intimidating physical challenges I had ever faced.

The Well-Worn Path

The only thing more fulfilling than experiencing victory in your own life is leading others into victory alongside you. In 2021 I took the helm of JF as its coordinator. I’ve been incredibly blessed by the opportunity to share the hope and healing that God imparted to me through past leaders of the program with the next generation of JF participants. I love watching the various individuals who make up a summer cohort slowly evolve into an incredibly tight-knit and unified group by the end of the course. The shared experiences and mutual encouragement in the face of struggle forms a strong bond. This bond has resulted in many lasting friendships for myself and others who have gone through the program over the years.

Be Strong and Courageous!

The summer masculinity course, Strive, is returning this June. It is open to any young men aged 18 to 35 who want to take hold of the strength and courage they were created for and achieve victory in their fight for holy sexuality. Strive is structured to give participants as many opportunities as possible to confront their doubts and fears and to experience support, encouragement, and overcoming of struggles in very tangible ways. The spiritual disciplines of worship, prayer, scripture memory and meditation are paired with practical life disciplines and physical exercise to facilitate accelerated personal and spiritual growth. Are you discouraged by your ongoing sexual struggle? Do you feel trapped in unhealthy relationships or a dissatisfying job? Is your life dominated by passivity, fear, or doubt? Strive is designed to help you through these struggles and more.

Crossing the Jordan

As the Lord promised to Joshua, I now say to you: “Be Strong and Courageous!” It is time to leave the wanderings of doubt and insecurity behind and to courageously forge a path forward into freedom and strength. There is hope for healing on the other side of the Jordan. Your sexual and relational brokenness and identity insecurity is not too much for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to conquer. Will you will submit to His instruction? Will you follow the well-worn path of the generations of overcomers before you? Will you join the men of JF and Strive on this journey out of doubt and fear and into strength and courage? I truly hope you will.

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Seeing Ourselves Through the Eyes of Hope*

We do not see things as they are.

We see things as we are.

– Dad

I recently came upon the above quote in A Father’s Book of Wisdom, a book given to me by a close friend. The “Dad” is the father of H. Jackson Brown, Jr., the book’s writer. I had to read these lines several times because they turned my thinking, and forced me to discern their meaning. There was something there, but what was it?

“Dad” gets points for candor and truth-telling. At least by my account. And it is the kind of truth-telling that invites the hearer to take a moment and do a personal inventory. “Wait a minute here, what am I seeing and why do I see this in this light?” Persuading people to take a personal look often elicits a strong and negative response. Why? Perception is reality—until it passes through due diligence!

Thus the difficulty with which the pro-LGBTQ+ world hears our message of hope for change and healing. Their reality is based on their perception of “the way things are,” just as our reality is based on our perceptions. We all see things from a faulty understanding sometimes, and not necessarily the way they are in reality. And, for us to convince someone otherwise, we need to enter their world, or at the very least, try to understand just exactly how it is that they see things. Theologically, this is what the Incarnation of Christ was all about: God becoming human in order to save us from ourselves. Missionally, this is our method. Like Paul, we try to become all things to all people that in so doing, some might be saved.

Point One is getting people to understand that reality may be something quite beyond their momentary perception. This issue of seeing things the way we are applies not only to evangelism and persuasion techniques regarding LGBTQ+ issues. Everyone does this. Indeed, Christians struggling with any number of issues can get “stuck” on this point, particularly if they are attempting to overcome a sin because of their deeply held spiritual convictions. Many find it hard to “recover” from their illness, addiction or problem, or to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA) because they see themselves incompletely. Perhaps they see themselves as incapable of change. Maybe they see their SSA or other condition as unchangeable. We, as truth-tellers, have a responsibility to inform their perception, to give them information which will give them the option of changing their opinions or actions which were previously based on an incomplete understanding of themselves. Much of this “information” about themselves should come from their Creator. He made them, let Him tell them what He had in mind! We simply remind people of God’s words.

All in all, I think it is a pretty bold move to ask someone to set aside his or her self-perception, in order to try to see things from a different angle. It’s like asking a New Yorker to move to Irian Jaya and live in a grass hut. Or like asking a stone-age native from Borneo to move to Beverly Hills. Either way, there will be self-conscious apprehension and high anxiety. Yet this is what we do at Outpost! We ask people to step out of their reality and see things from a completely different perspective. It’s a whole new world, and everyone feels off balance (especially at first). People want equilibrium. They like things the way they always were. (Not that that’s possible!)

I recall a joke about church politics that might shed some light on why things are as hard as they are: “The seven last words of the Church: We’ve never done it that way before!” People tell this joke to poke fun at how things (don’t) change in churches. But this is merely an extension of human nature. We are all admittedly uncomfortable about change. Any change. A New Testament picture of children learning offers a bit of insight. In Galatians 3:24, there was a hired hand whose sole job was to get the kids to school. Job Title: tutor (in the NASB). Tools: horse whip. He would literally beat the kids, driving them like cattle to school. The conventional thinking of the day was, if there were no tutor, the kids would dawdle and rebel and never quite make it to school. The children’s attitude is in all of us. Why would we want to change? Fishing and skipping rope are much more fun than school! And school would change us.

This phenomenon is very interesting on the flip side of this issue as well. Have you ever met someone who, in all his enthusiasm for daring feats of amazement, says things like, “It’s as easy as falling off a log” or “It’s like riding a bike.” Or, (and this one especially grates on me when I’m having trouble) “Hey, if I can do it, anyone can!” They easily exude confidence in others, when they see it accomplished in their own life. They see others the way they see themselves. They truly see the other being just like themselves, not so much the way the other one is in reality.

This attitude, however, may actually encourage us to learn the new thing. It may inspire hope in us that we can actually change when we feel hopeless about change. The lightness of heart may make the prospect of change really positive. Change will then be seen as a good thing, rather than something to fear or disdain.

So, how can we embrace optimistic hope about our own ability and willingness to change? How are we to engender that hope in others? Let me leave you with this scripture:

Hebrews 10:23-25: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, … encouraging one another; and [this] all the more….” (NASB)

We are given this injunction by the writer of the book of Hebrews as encouragement to persevere. We shall overcome!

*This article first appeared in Dan’s World, July 1998. It has been abridged and updated. Used with permission.

Transitions, Transitions

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! Along with the change to a new year, there are a number of other changes happening at Outpost Ministries. But first, a review of the changes from last year.

The first part of 2022 was a busy time. First, we bade farewell and congratulations to Jean, our Elijah Company (EC) and Living Waters (LW) Coordinator as she retired in January. Jean had been with Outpost part-time for about ten years. Then in February we welcomed her back as a volunteer LW leader! Ah, but then we said goodbye to Marti, our bookkeeper, who moved on in order to develop her own bookkeeping business.

Along about that time, we did some hiring! First, we outsourced our bookkeeping by contracting with SimplifyChurch, an agency that specializes in church finance. Then we hired Craig as our new EC Coordinator. That’s just the first two months!

In March we lost our Donor Relations manager, Joy, who had been full-time with Outpost-TCJHOP for about four years. Her jobs were able to be “in-sourced” and were taken up by Annetta, Wendy, and Scott. (More on them later!)

In April we said “bon voyage” to Jonathan, our President and Joshua Fellowship (JF) Coordinator. Jonathan sailed on to warmer climes—literally—as an Executive Pastor somewhere out in the Pacific Ocean. And just so you know, everyone gets into the transition act at this point. You see, I was then appointed by our Board of Directors as Interim President, while maintaining my other roles as CalebSpirit (CS) Coordinator and Senior Pastor (basically, I maintain spiritual oversight over the whole operation).

So as to not leave us high and dry, in March we hired Matt as JF Coordinator. Matt has made a one-year commitment to this very part-time position, as he is a relative newlywed and also working his full-time career job in architecture.

After a half-year of everyone getting acclimated to the changes, we said “Happy Retirement” to Annetta, who retired as Office Manager and Donor Relations Manager on November 30. It was a second career for Annetta, and thus a second retirement. But don’t worry, she’s married to the Interim President so she’ll still be around! She’s already managed to get in some volunteer hours since retiring!

Annetta’s tasks have been insourced to Wendy and Scott. Wendy has come on full-time, so she’s easily absorbing most of the Donor Relations and Human Resources tasks. Wendy will also have the time to focus on increased fundraising and outreach activities, including event planning. Scott, in the meantime, is upping his time to 25 hours a week and will be taking on the Office Manager responsibilities. Scott is doing additional fundraising in hopes of becoming full-time by the end of 2023. We will have no trouble finding jobs for Scott to do as this develops.

At the moment, then, we are left with needing to make two new hires. One, a JF Coordinator to replace Matt by this March. Two, a new President to take over my Interim President duties. I’m all in favor of replacing myself with a new President as soon as possible! Please pray for the Board of Directors and me as we seek to hire the new President. Then add another prayer for me as I seek to replace Matt in JF.

The sheer number of personnel changes is overwhelming to a small organization like Outpost. A year ago we started with eight paid staff. Only three of those eight remain! We now have only five staff total: two full-time and three part-time.

With the search for new President, the Board and I are well aware of the risks of hiring the wrong person to lead our organization. We’ve seen what happens to other organizations when their leadership fails to follow the biblical mandates. They yield their prophetic voice and spiritual authority to social pressure. They weaken and eventually close their doors. Once the prophetic is lost, souls are lost, too. We do not want to give the enemy a foothold!

This hiring decision will set the stage for the next phase of Outpost Ministries and hopefully will carry us far beyond our 50th anniversary in 2026. We want to remain strong and retain a voice of power and love for the 50 years beyond that! I urge you again, please pray for Outpost Ministries! This will be a critical change in our organization, offering new hope and new vision for an increasingly hopeless and blind world.

Let us pray like Isaiah for Outpost Ministries to be the light that people walking in darkness will see. Then pray like Jesus taught in Matthew 5:16, “that they may see [Outpost’s] good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

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The Hope in Advent

I’ve picked up on a theme this year: Advent is “in” again with Christians. Suddenly, it seems, there are dozens of new Advent devotionals out there. And this is appropriate, for Advent marks the start of the new Church Year, which starts the fourth Sunday before Christmas. This year, November 27 is New Church Year’s Day.

Advent is a period of waiting for what’s to come. It hearkens back to Isaiah 9:2 about “The people who walk in darkness”, for that’s what waiting feels like. ‘Tis all darkness and gloom! But it also bespeaks a glimmer of hope. Something good is coming!

Paul describes this same longing in Romans 8:23, which also parallels our experience today: “We groan as we eagerly wait for our adoption, the freeing of our bodies from sin.”

One of the greatest Advent hymns pushes our thinking forward to awaiting the second coming of Christ when we will be free of sin:

He rules the world with truth and grace / And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness / And wonders of His love…

Upon Jesus’s return he will cause everyone to prove just how glorious his righteousness is and how “wonder-full” is His love! Imagine a world that agrees that LGBTQ+ is sinful and is awed by Jesus’s love!

At Outpost, of course we focus intensely on righteousness. Most of us struggle with unrighteousness in our sexuality. We long for real righteousness that is not a performance, but truly heartfelt goodness. Half of this struggle, it seems, is about “doing our sexuality right,” while the other half is about “doing it right for the right reasons.” That’s why I quoted from the GW translation, where it says, “the freeing of our bodies from sin.”

Additionally, we provide space for people to meditate on God’s love for them, to imagine the wonder and marvel at the attractiveness of that love. It never ends! Jesus said, “I will never turn away anyone who comes to me” (John 6:37). This Advent, we invite you to “Come! Let us adore Him!”

The Fellowship of CalebSpirit

But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.”

Numbers 14:24, ESV, emphasis added

In our continuing series of “This is Outpost,” I’ve been granted the privilege to tell you about our ministry among older men seeking wholeness in regard to their sexuality and relationships, CalebSpirit. This group got its start in about 2003 after the 2002 reorganization of Joshua Fellowship (JF). JF was the only ministry group Outpost had when I first came in the late 1980s as a participant. CalebSpirit started as a group study of a book called Men Pursuing Purity by Andrew Comiskey. At the outset, we just called the group “Men Pursuing Purity,” or MPP for short. Once we completed that book study however, we felt the name wasn’t quite right. But what to name ourselves? For lack of a better name, we simply went with “Men Over 30,” or MO3 for short, in keeping with our 3-character acronym precedent. Eventually, we “aged out” of MO3, since most of us were well past 50. Another name change came about then by popular demand. After doing a study of the “oldies but goodies” in the Old Testament–and taking a cue from Joshua Fellowship–we settled upon CalebSpirit based upon Numbers 14:24, quoted above.

Ironically, CalebSpirit is more of a fellowship than Joshua Fellowship. We follow a rather simple plan each week: welcome, book discussion, prayer time, and closing fellowship time. Each fall, we typically choose a book or curriculum, have a kick-off retreat to get started, then follow the weekly schedule. That’s how the school year goes, generally. We toss in a few other social events like a movie night and a Christmas party. In the summer months, we often do outdoor activities like BBQ picnics, croquet tournaments, mini-golf, biking, kayaking, etc.

All these activities are designed to help us better relate to one another as men, for men will more typically connect by doing things together, especially while using the good of their masculine bodies. The connection happens “on the side” of the activity, rather than being the stated reason we get together. Through the years we’ve done some really wild things, like batting cage practice and disc golf. A funny thing happened on the disc golf course one time. We decided to go to a particular park and play. Turns out we “played through” (or rather, we LET play through) a national disc golf tournament. We had no idea that professional golfers were on the course with us until we finished our course. That made the Dairy Queen conversation afterward real lively!

From the very beginning of CalebSpirit we have opened the group up to men who don’t necessarily struggle with same-sex attraction (SSA), but who struggle with any identified sexual or relational brokenness issue. In fact, one of our early volunteers never struggled with SSA, but so identified with the typical Outpost participant that he worked with us for about 10 years before his untimely death in a farm accident. His sudden departure left an indelible mark on the lives of the current participants.

We are currently studying a book by Dane Ortlund called Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. This book is a healing balm for battle-worn soldiers in the fight against sin and temptation. Our minds and hearts are being stretched to the limit to understand that Jesus “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet [is] without sin” (see Hebrews 4:15). Jesus enters the fray. His strength in overcoming temptation gives us encouragement to persevere. His presence in the trenches with us empowers us to walk in victory over the enemy of our souls.

Beyond our study together and intercession for each other, a real sense of belonging and togetherness is developing among us. These men do not have easy lives. Some are married and their marriages are difficult. Some are divorced. Some have never married and have become so used to the idea of being alone that connecting with anyone about anything feels awkward if not impossible. Even just having a group to go to the State Fair with can be a boost. Then there’s all the help we need with projects or moving or simply the ministry of presence during divorce proceedings. None of it is meant to be done alone.

Thank you for your generous support through giving and prayer for the ministries of Outpost! It is making a real difference in the lives of the men of CalebSpirit.

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The Gift of Noticing (& an Auction Update)

Dear friends,

Fall has always been my favorite season. Maybe it’s the coziness of the clothes, maybe the beauty of the leaves, maybe the apple cider and pie, maybe the start of school. Whatever the reason, I can manage the heat of a Minnesota August by remembering that soon September and October will bring all sorts of things that I love. This year, however, I was so caught up in my tasks and to-do list that I almost missed out.

Have you Noticed?

Last week, God impressed upon my heart that I was about to miss the season. I heard God encouraging me to look up and notice the world, to see the beauty of creation during this time. And what did I see? Mostly, I saw trees in so many beautiful colors: fiery reds, vibrant oranges, and soft yellows. I saw a beautifully clear blue sky, bright and sunny, celebrating the crispness of the breeze.  And then, as I walked to my office door, I was surprised by a single purple flower, blooming alone.

This flower was definitely unusual. Between the rocky ground, the colder-than-average temperature, and the lack of any other flower nearby, this flower seemed to be blooming just for me. I didn’t remember seeing it the day before, and I certainly don’t recall anyone planting purple petunias along that strip of soil. My heart swelled with joy, much-needed in the midst of my hardship-filled week. I stooped to take a picture, to savor the moment, the bloom, and the feeling.

Isn’t that just like God? First, He invites us into a new season and a new way of looking at the world. As we respond and accept that invitation, He is already there, waiting with a gift for us. That morning, for me, the invitation was to notice and appreciate God’s handiwork. The gift was a small bloom of joy to soothe my weary spirit.

Keeping Focus

Seeing the flower that morning also reminded me of my experience with the Fall Auction. The auction is arguably my favorite event. Between the excitement of gathering items beforehand, the fun of the bidding, and the good food and conversations, my extroverted spirit soars. However, it’s easy to let the numerous tasks and stresses of preparation overwhelm me. This year, the stresses were increased by our general financial situation.

During the week immediately preceding the event, I heard a different invitation from God. This invitation was similar to His words to Martha in Luke 10:41: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; but only one thing is necessary;” (NASB). In this time, while preparation was necessary, my tasks and to-do lists were not the focus of the event. Rather, my focus needed to shift to gathering with our supporters, sharing what God is doing through the ministry, and allowing God to provide for our needs.

As I shifted my gaze from the tasks to the face of Jesus, I found the gift of His peace and presence in abundance. And then we saw God provide. A total of 55 people participated between the online and in-person events, about 1/3 of them people who hadn’t participated before. We raised just over $10,000 to help cover our deficit, more than half of which were outright gifts, not bids. And while we didn’t reach our goal, God did more than we expected based on the number of registrations.

God is Faithful

In the short weeks of following up with winners and processing donations, I have been humbled again by God’s faithfulness. The ministry of Outpost belongs to God; it is through Him that we live and move and have our being. He will provide for all we need, to the praise of His glory, not ours. And I am so grateful to you, our supporters, for your faithfulness in giving as God calls so that hope and healing can go forth in God’s name.

I don’t know what God is inviting you into today. But rest assured, wherever and whatever that is, God is already there. And the gift you will receive upon arrival will meet your need and feed your spirit. Go ahead, accept the invitation of your Creator. And be greatly blessed by the result.

Yours,

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Knowing the Love that Surpasses Knowledge

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

Dear friends,

I am amazed at the prayers of Paul in the New Testament. Paul had a keen sense of the Christian life and our deepest needs. Ephesians 3:14-21 is no exception. What strikes me about this passage is that Paul prays for Christ to indwell Christians. However, doesn’t Jesus already indwell Christians by the Holy Spirit? Yes, but Paul also prays for Christians to know the love of Christ “that surpasses knowledge.” Paul is making a distinction here between knowing about God’s love for us and knowing God’s love experientially.

Why does this matter? I believe it is a matter of life and death.

First, let’s look at the straightforward way this difference matters. To know about God’s love for you through the Gospel is not the same as to have received it yourself. The Gospel requires a response through repentance and faith; knowing the truth of the Gospel alone cannot and does not save anyone. To be led out of spiritual death into life, each one of us must chose to receive the Gospel. That is, we must each know it in our heart and spirit as well as in our mind.

The second way this matters is more complicated. To know about something and to experience something are not the same. Jonathan Edwards once talked about the difference between knowing that honey is sweet and actually tasting its sweetness. To know about something without actually having experienced it leaves us with a sense of disconnect. The same disconnect is true in relationships. I might know about a certain celebrity, but that is not the same as having a personal relationship with that celebrity.

Where am I going with this? In my Christian walk, this passage in Ephesians has been significant to me because of its implications for my relationship with God. If God’s love is abstract to me, it does not affect me at all. If, however, God’s love is something I experience deeply and regularly, my capacity to respond to, love, and obey God from a place of fullness is greatly increased.

It’s not just my story, however. Both in Joshua Fellowship (JF) and Living Waters, I have heard participants share that deep down, they are not truly sure God loves them. I can relate to that belief; I believed for years that God deeply disliked me even though I was saved. Learning about Jesus is not enough. One must “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8) in order to know Jesus’ love in the center of his or her being.

That is why I love being a part of JF and Living Waters. I get to participate in God’s work to see men and women freed from the shame and lies that keep them from experiencing God’s presence and love for them. That is why I am excited to see how God uses the remainder of JF’s Strive summer course to bring the young men into deeper freedom and joy. And that is why I look forward to the upcoming Living Waters book study, where men and women will dive into God’s love and acceptance of them through the breaking of lies and healing of wounds. Praise God, for He is able to do infinitely more that we can ask or imagine, to the praise of His glory! Amen.

Another Year of HOPE

Dear Friends,

During the first week of June, Annetta and I traveled to Ridgecrest Conference Center in western North Carolina for the annual HOPE Conference of the Restored Hope Network (RHN). RHN is a network of like-minded ministries which Outpost helped to found in 2012, under the banner “Jesus Christ has life-changing power.” RHN replaced the apostate network of ministries called Exodus, Int’l, of which Outpost was also a founding member in 1976.

The Conference started with “Member Day.” This yearly meeting of network ministry leaders is held to take care of network business including elections, ministry reports, fellowship, and so on. The remaining days are attended by leaders, ministry participants, family, and friends. The activities include plenary worship sets, keynote addresses, breakout sessions, and ministry times.

Some of the highlights of the conference were:

  • The variety of keynote addresses. We heard from Anne Paulk, RHN Executive Director; Dr. Julie Hamilton, LMFT; Dr. Paul Hruz, pediatric endocrinologist; Tamika “Uproot that thang” Sanders of Coming Out, Inc.; and Jeff Simunds, Director of Tower of Light Ministries in Seattle.
  • The worship times focused on Jesus Christ and His work in our lives.
  • A series of inspiring testimonies from Laura Perry Smalts of First Stone Ministries, Oklahoma City; Dee Barnes of His Wonderful Works ministry, Atlanta; Mike Newland of ReStory Ministries with the Assemblies of God (and a former Outpost intern!), Minneapolis; Maria Nistri of Exchange Ministries, Orlando; Gene and Anita Eggman of AboutHOPE Ministries, Springdale, AR; and Rev. Bob Stith of the SBC special ministry to sexual brokenness, of Living Hope Ministries, Dallas.
  • A posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award presentation to Ted Schneider, founder of AboutHOPE Ministries, who passed away this past January.
  • A set of helpful breakout sessions:
    • Dr. Linda Seiler spoke on “The Five Streams,” discussing five differing Christian views on the LGBTQ+ question.
    • Maria Nistri talked about “Earnestness and the Great Exchange”.
    • Dr. Paul Hruz of the Catholic Medical Association and the Christian Medical and Dental Association (with Laura Perry Smalts) shared insight into “Practical Issues in Addressing Sex-Discordant Gender Identity.”
    • Dr. Julie Hamilton presented  “Silence of the Church on LGBT Issues and Steps Toward Change.”
  • Plenty of free time to explore the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We want to encourage everyone reading this to consider attending an RHN Hope Conference in the future. Next year, plans are in place to offer the conference completely online. This will allow for lower cost and easier access to the conference materials. In 2024 the conference will once again be live and in-person at a site to be announced. In the meantime, conference videos will be made available this summer via www.restoredhopenetwork.org. Please take advantage of this excellent opportunity to increase your knowledge and experience of the ministries operating out of biblical clarity and conviction!

In Christ,

Dan's Signature

Hope for the Hurting

When my wife and I joined Elijah Company (EC) we said, “We need help and hope.” We were so broken and hurt. Going into our first meeting, we felt like the Samaritan woman at the well, and Jesus was asking us for water (John 4). We were reminded of Jesus’ words to her in verse 10: “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” However, we didn’t feel worthy of God’s help. Like many, we wanted a reset button for our family. Instead, we received the gift of living water from God: words of truth that bring us the hope and healing we needed.

Focusing on God’s Truth

This month, I’d like to share a couple of these words of truth that we have learned and are learning through the ministry of EC. First, we need to keep our eyes fixed upon God’s truth. One of the most common thoughts a parent has when a child identifies as LGBTQ+ is “I must have done something wrong.” Parent guilt is real, and it is from the enemy. I have battled this myself, and it is one of the reasons we got involved with EC. In these times, it is important to direct ourselves back to God and His Word. An important scripture to claim daily is Galatians 6:9: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” This truth brings us hope and helps sustain us through the struggle.

The Battle is The Lord’s

Second, we must remember who is the actual enemy. In one of our EC devotions, we studied Deuteronomy 20:1-4. The Living Bible says it this way: “When you go to war and see before you vast numbers of horses and chariots, and an army far greater than yours, don’t be frightened. The Lord your God is with you…For the Lord your God is going with you. He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you the victory.” As parents and family of loved ones identifying as LGBTQ+, we can easily feel that the whole community is the enemy. That is not accurate. Truly there is a high degree of organization in the LGBTQ+ community, especially through social media and chat rooms. Oftentimes, our loved ones are coached in their words and behaviors. However, our enemy has always been the evil one, Satan. Peter identifies this for us in 1 Peter 5:8 where he names our enemy as the devil. In other places, he also refers to the devil as Satan, slanderer, and adversary. The LGBTQ+ community is filled with sons and daughters who have been told lies from the evil one. Every one of them needs our prayers. Let us remember Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Let us respond as in Ephesians 6:13: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Joyful Hope

As I close, I’ll say what we in EC remind each other of regularly. We claim the words of Paul in Romans 12:12 when he says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” These words represent the essence of what we experiences in an EC meeting. We acknowledge the hurt we carry for our loved ones. We are joyful in the knowledge our Lord has a plan, a future, and a purpose for our loved ones. The truth of God’s Word sustains us in our grief. Finally, being faithful in prayer maintains our hope.

Thanks be to God!


Elijah Company is a prayer-based support group open to parents, families, and friends of loved ones who are overcoming unwanted same-sex attractions, who struggle with gender confusion, or who identify as LGBTQ+. Each time we meet we have a devotion and time to share and update one another on our lives. Then, most of our time is dedicated to praying for our loved ones. If you are or someone you know is interested in joining the group, contact the office.